


Infection

by orphan_account



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, I'm honestly not sure how to tag this, Injury, Suicide Attempt, Tiso is not fine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21951781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tiso barely survives the Colosseum, but that's not the only deadly thing in Hallownest.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

The last thing he remembers is being thrown off of a cliff. 

They thought he was dead. He had been thrown out of the Colosseum of Fools with the rest of the bodies. The landing had been painful, and he honestly wasn't sure if he'd survive. 

He hadn't. Maybe he was still alive, but he knew that wouldn't be true for long. He felt his energy draining with the blood that stained the rocks under him, turning the ash green.

He was barely able to lift his head when he heard footsteps. That tiny bug he had seen so many times before, the pale thing that somehow hadn't died yet, was standing in front of him. He let his head fall against the rocks, didn't have enough energy to keep it up anyway.

Eventually the bug left. They must have thought he was dead. Wasn't he, though? It was too hard to keep his eyes open now, and he closes them. The only thing he wanted to do was sleep. He didn't think he'd ever wake up.

He was surprised to see that he was dreaming. Why would he expect that when he was almost dead? It was hard to tell what anything was. There was light, and a voice that promised life, an end to the pain, strength. Why would he refuse? 

The dream ended as quickly as it began. There was orange mist in the air, and he was still alive, somehow. Not dead. Not yet, at least. 

He stood up, and it was hard but he managed it. Where would he go? Not back to the Colosseum. They had already decided he was dead. He couldn't go there.

So he started climbing down the cliffs. The bugs left him alone, even the Primal Aspids. That was strange, they usually tried to kill him. But it made his life easier. 

He got to the edge of the pit at the bottom. Acid bubbled at the edge of the rocks, and it seemed like it would be unpleasant to fall into. He carefully climbed over it on the platforms nearby before leaving the area completely and traveling into the City of Tears.

The infected bugs ignored him, which was still confusing him, but he wouldn't have been able to fight them anyway. He walked through the towers, and it was obvious that they used to be very fancy buildings. They weren't anymore.

A deep channel of water separates the towers from another area, where he can see a tall statue. He catches his reflection in the surface as he goes to cross, and it makes him step back quickly.

There's a large crack in his shell, and an orange blob is starting to break through the hole. His eyes are bright orange. Somehow, he isn't completely infected yet. But he will be soon. He still has time. Not much, but it isn't too late yet. He has to do something and he has to do it soon. 

He still has his shield. 

He takes the shield, runs a finger along the sharp edge, and then slams it into the already deep cut. Green and orange covers the surface of his weapon. He pulls the shield out and stabs it into his shell again, digging it deeper every time he does. It hurts.

He stops when there are chunks of his shell falling to the ground, coated in green blood and orange infection. He stumbles forward, standing on the edge of the stream of water, and then falls into the water. When he tries to breathe water fills his throat and makes him try to cough, but more water just pours into his mouth and he can't breathe and it _hurts_ and he can't swim up, the water's dragging him down and surrounding him and _it hurts_. Blood turns the water slightly green, faintly orange with the infection, clouds of color in the dark water. He can't manage to hold onto his shield and it sinks into the water, hitting the bottom of the stream and slowly laying flat on the rocks, and that's the last thing he sees before everything turns black.


	2. Chapter 2

Lemm had gone to take a break. Nobody came into the shop anyway and he wanted to get some fresh air. He hadn't thought he'd see a bug stab himself and then fall in the water.

For a moment he considers just letting this bug die. But it _would_ make him feel bad if he just left, so he goes and drags the bug out of the water. He certainly looks dead, but Lemm notices that he's still barely breathing, and then the bug starts coughing up water and Lemm's more annoyed that now he's got blood all over his hands. 

He definitely couldn't carry the bug, so Lemm starts dragging him up to the store. Somehow the bug doesn't wake up, just coughs up more water and leaves a trail of blood on the ground.

Lemm manages to get the bug back to the shop and find somewhere to put him. He leaves the bug on the floor to go and find the bits of shell that are large enough to try and fix.

* * *

When Tiso wakes up, the first thing he notices is that everything hurts. Then he realizes that he's in a building, laying on the floor surrounded by piles of journals. 

He struggles to sit up, coughing when he finally manages to sit up. There's bandages on his chest, and it hurts to breathe. 

And then he realizes that he's in a strange building. He starts frantically searching for his shield, but he can't find it and _he's going to die here, something's going to walk in and kill him and he can't even protect himself,_ and then a bug walks in and stares at him.

"You're finally awake." He sounded slightly annoyed. It made sense, Tiso was apparently asleep in his house or something probably for who knows how long.

"How long have I been here?" Even just barely talking makes him start coughing again, and the coughing makes his chest hurt a lot worse. He wasn't even talking very loudly.

"A day or two, I think." 

That's a long time. He lays down on the floor again. "Sorry. I'll leave… soon. Today. Just… Give me half a second."

The other bug sighs loudly. "No, you are staying here and you are not dying. No death allowed in my store."

Oh. His store. Great, alright. Cool. And apparently Tiso isn't allowed to leave yet. 

"Fine." He's in too much pain to argue. Honestly, he probably shouldn't even be alive. But this bug he doesn't even know won't let him die. It doesn’t matter, he’ll die soon without his shield. That was the only weapon he had and he lost it in the stream. He’d have to go back and get it soon. If he ever could.

The bug who had probably saved his life was translating something at a desk. Tiso was still laying on the floor. He pushed himself off of the ground so he could sit up. His head hurts. The other bug looks at him. 

“Don’t touch anything.”

Tiso frowned a bit, pulling his hood on. It had fallen off when he fell in the water and it was still soaked. The feeling of wet fabric made him uncomfortable, but it’s better than not having his hood on at all. Now he just had to wait until he could sneak out. 

It’s hard to stand up, but he manages to use a shelf to pull himself up off of the ground. His vision goes black for a second and he has to put most of his weight on the shelf. It’s hard to breathe.

“I said don’t touch anything.”

“It was just a shelf.” Tiso’s voice is a lot worse than he realized. It was raspy, which wasn’t surprising with how much he had been coughing. 

“You could have knocked it over. Sit down."

Tiso opens his mouth to argue, but sitting down sounds like a great idea, so he sits back down. The floor isn’t very comfortable, and he almosts asks for a pillow or something, but that might be rude so he doesn’t say anything. He’s honestly not used to talking to people, and he doesn’t want to get kicked out of the first really safe place he’s been in.

At some point he falls asleep. When he wakes up, he’s still lying on the floor, but now there’s a blanket covering him. And a pillow under his head. He rolls onto his side and pulls the blanket up halfway over his face, and it’s warm and he really doesn’t want to get up. But then something hits the back of his head. When he goes to see what it is, there’s a roll of bandages laying on the ground. He sits up slowly, picking up the bandages.

“Uh… Thanks.”

The other bug ignores him and starts translating one of the journals. Tiso sighs quietly and starts unwrapping the bandages, mentally preparing himself to see what’s under them. He did not prepare enough. Even just seeing it makes him a bit nauseous. There’s a large chunk of his shell that’s missing, and green blood is collected at the edges of the gap and oozing out. Smaller bits are barely connected and the rest of the crack is coated with mostly dried blood. He barely presses a finger to the injuries and the pain makes him feel sick. He doesn’t want to see it for too long so he quickly wraps it with bandages and then lays down again. He’s tired and he doesn’t even feel like trying to get up. The pain is somehow worse than it was yesterday. And he’s kind of hungry, but it isn’t a big deal. He’ll survive. Probably. He wouldn't be able to actually eat anyway, he still felt sick. 

Just as he's thinking that a bowl of what he thinks is soup gets set down next to him. Just the smell makes him feel worse, even though it does smell like good soup. 

He pulls the blanket up over his face, and it helps block the smell. He still feels sick, though, and he knows that trying to actually eat would make it much worse. 

He's trying to decide if he should eat or not when he falls asleep again.

He wakes up and he doesn't feel sick anymore. When he moves the blanket away from his face, he sees the bandages and a cloth on the floor in front of him. He slowly sits up and starts to unwrap the bandages. The cloth is slightly damp, and he uses it to clean off the dried blood. He isn't bleeding anymore so that's probably good. It still hurts, though. He sighs and wraps more bandages around the injury. 

The bug who lives here… isn't here. It takes him a few minutes, but he stands up. He really needs to eat. He figures out where the kitchen is and sees that there's a container on the counter with a note next to it. He picks up the note and reads it. 

The bug left him food. 

He takes the container back to his spot on the floor, sits down and wraps himself in the blanket, opens the container, and starts to eat. He can hear the bug talking to someone in another room. The food is alright, and eating makes him feel a bit better.

Now all he has to do is leave and get his shield.  



	3. Chapter 3

Tiso waits until it’s quiet, and he’s pretty sure everyone else is either gone or asleep. It’s the perfect time to just leave. He might come back. He probably won’t, though. Sure, it’s been great, but he doesn’t want to take up space here if he doesn’t have to. He’ll stop to get bandages later. Maybe he can go up to that town again? The store there might have some.

He stands up, and considers taking the blanket with him. He doesn’t. The rest of the store is empty and he walks outside without anyone trying to stop him. It isn’t the best idea he’s had, and it hurts to move. 

The stream isn’t very far from the store. That’s good. He stares into the water, watching his reflection and the small ripples. His shield is down there somewhere. He takes a deep breath and dives into the water.

It’s cold. The water soaks through his bandages and gets into his eyes. It stings, but he keeps his eyes open and swims down. He can see metal at the bottom. His shield. He manages to get far enough down into the water to grab it and starts to try to pull it up. The water around him is starting to turn slightly green. It feels like someone’s stabbing a blade into his chest. He keeps trying to swim up. It’s hard with only one hand, and his shield is heavy. He’s running out of air. 

Just as he’s starting to think that he’ll actually die this time, something grabs his arm and pulls him up. He grabs onto whatever it is as he gets pulled out of the water, and he lands on the ground, laying on his face and coughing and his chest hurts. But he’s alive, and he has his shield. 

“Hey, are you alright?” The voice sounds familiar, but Tiso doesn’t know where he’s heard it before. He manages to sit up, noticing the green staining the bandages and dripping from under them. He doesn’t recognize the bug who saved him this time.

“I’ve been better.” It’s the truth. He takes a closer look at the bug. He’s wearing a mask on top of his head over a cloth hood, and he has a nail. But he seems nice, and not infected, which is always good. “I’m Tiso.” 

The other bug helps him up. “Quirrel. I know someone who lives close to here, he should be able to help you.” And that’s when Tiso realizes why he recognizes the voice. That’s the bug who was in the store the other day. He thinks about saying no, but he does need to change his bandages again and probably eat. 

"Sure. Sounds great."

So Quirrel helps him walk up to the store again. He has to lean on Quirrel for most of the walk there because he's in too much pain right now to walk, but Quirrel doesn't seem to mind. 

When they get there, the bug who owns the store is standing behind the counter. 

"Lemm! It's great to see you. I found this bug and I was hoping you could-"

"Help him, I'm guessing? Yes. I actually  _ was, _ until he left."

So his name was Lemm. He can't believe he never asked the bug what his name was.

"I had to get my shield." It wasn't a lie. He needed it if he ever wanted to not die. Not dying would be pretty great. 

"Sure you did. Go sit down."

Tiso would argue but he's  _ tired _ , and kind of hungry, and his chest hurts, so he goes and sits down. The blanket is still in his spot on the floor. When did he start to think of it as his spot?

He wraps the blanket around himself. Quirrel sits next to him, holding a first aid kit. 

"Do you need help with your bandages?" He sounds worried. Nobody's ever really been worried about him before.

"No, but thanks for offering." Tiso pulls the blanket around his shoulders more, so that he's almost completely covered by the blanket.

"Are you sure?"

"I… I don't know. I think so?" He did probably need help. He didn't have a lot of experience with anything this bad. He's had to deal with some pretty bad cuts before, but never anything like this.

Quirrel sighs quietly. "Is it fine if I help you?"

Tiso hesitates before he replies. "Yeah, I guess so." He moves the blanket so he can unwrap his bandages. Once he's done taking all of them off, Quirrel just 

looks more concerned. 

"What happened?"

Tiso looks at the ground. "I… A fight. It was a fight." Not the whole truth, but it was close enough. He didn't want to make anyone even more worried.

Quirrel doesn't say anything, just helps Tiso clean the injury. It hurts a lot, but it's better than getting covered in blood. He's still bleeding though. 

Once the injury is wrapped in bandages again, Tiso pulls the blanket over his shoulders again. Quirrel sits next to him and doesn't say anything. He's tired.

He feels himself starting to fall asleep, but he wants to stay awake so he pinches his arm. It wakes him up a bit. 

Quirrel finally says something to him. "Do you want something to eat?"

Tiso nods. He's very hungry, but he doesn't want to eat anything because it's not his house or his food.

Quirrel gets up and goes to another room. When he comes back he has a plate with probably too much food on it, and he hands the plate to Tiso. "Here."

Tiso takes the plate, but he can only manage to eat a few bites of food before he sets the plate down. Quirrel picks it up and sets it on a table. "Sleep. You'll get better faster."

Tiso isn't sure if that's true, but he's too tired to argue, so he pulls the blanket around himself and lays down with his head on the pillow. It doesn't take him long to fall asleep, the sound of the rain outside filtering into his dreams, turning them into some of the most calm dreams he's had in his life. 


	4. Chapter 4

It takes several minutes for Tiso to actually move after he wakes up. Quirrel is nearby, asleep against a bookshelf, and Lemm is most likely somewhere else in the store. He sits up, stretching his arms as far as he can without hurting himself, and notices that the bandages have probably been changed since he fell asleep. There's a bowl of some type of food nearby, and it's still a bit warm, so Tiso eats it. Hopefully that wasn't Quirrel's. 

Someone walks in as he sets the bowl down. The tiny bug that had found him when he had first been injured. They don't notice him at first, and set a few things on the counter. Then they notice Quirrel, and then look at Tiso. That seems to surprise them because they get their nail from off their back and point it at him.

"Calm down, it's fine."

"And put your nail away in my store. If you break anything you can't come back."

Lemm had somehow gotten behind the counter while Tiso hadn't been paying attention. It wasn't surprising. His reflexes weren't great right now. He probably wouldn't even be able to dodge a Vengefly. The bug could have easily killed him if they had wanted to. 

The bug slowly puts their nail away. Lemm looks at the items on the counter. "More of the journals? Put them with the rest. How do you even carry all of these?" There are about ten of the journals on the counter.

The bug hesitates, and then shrugs, picking all of the journals up and dumping them onto the pile of journals nearby. Tiso watches them. 

The bug points at Quirrel and tilts their head, looking at Lemm. 

"He's… He's a friend."

The bug points at Tiso next. Tiso makes sure his shield is nearby and hopes the bug doesn't try to fight him.

Lemm looks over at Tiso. "And  _ that's  _ a bug who doesn't know how to stop nearly getting himself killed. And I can't get rid of him."

Wait. Does he want Tiso to leave? He could leave if nobody wanted him here. "You could kick me out." 

"Don't give me any ideas." Lemm turns back to the bug in front of the counter, setting a pile of Geo in front of them. "Do You have anything else to sell me or are you going to leave?"

The bug takes the Geo and walks out.

"Oh. Do they do that a lot?"

"Yes. Too often."

Tiso hears something move and looks in the direction of the noise. Quirrel's awake. Cool. Now he could get kicked out of the shop or something for being annoying. Or getting hurt too much. Or both of those.

But instead of making him leave, Quirrel just yawns and then sits up more. "Oh, you're awake! I hope the food was alright?"

So Quirrel had left the food for him. He hadn't actually stolen anyone's food. "Yeah, it was great. Thanks."

"Let me know if you're hungry, alright? You need to eat."

Tiso doesn't realize Quirrel had even said anything until Quirrel gently touches his arm. 

"Is everything alright?"

Tiso blinks. "Yeah, I'm fine. I… I actually think I'll go. I'm feeling a lot better and I don't want to bother you."

Quirrel stares at him as he slowly gets up, picking up his shield and fixing his hood. Tiso starts to walk to the door, trying to hide that he's limping, when Quirrel says something.

"No. You are not leaving, you're still hurt and most likely bleeding. If you leave, something  _ will _ kill you."

Tiso stops and turns around. Quirrel and Lemm are both watching him.

"You… don't want me to leave?"

Lemm's the first one to say anything. "Of course not. I was only joking earlier."

Quirrel stands up and walks over to him. "You need to rest. And this is a safe place. Always." 

Tiso feels like he's about to cry. He's never had a safe place he can go back to before, or people who actually care about him. It's just… new. 

He blinks and tears start to run down his face. When he tries to talk he starts crying. Quirrel hugs him and doesn't say anything, just waits until he's calmed down enough to say what he wanted to say.

"Thank you. For… For everything. You don't have to let me stay though."

He steps back and wipes his face. Quirrel and Lemm look at each other, and then at Tiso. 

"We don't have to. But we  _ want _ to. It's rare to find bugs who aren't already dead. And I'm not going to just let you die after I saved your life." Lemm doesn't sound  _ mad _ , he just sounds like he's a bit annoyed. That's better than angry though.

Quirrel sounds calm, but sad. "It's dangerous out there. I'm sure you already know that, but... It's really not safe for you to leave yet."

Leaving. Did he really want to leave? 

No. No he doesn't. He likes it here. It's the safest place he's had. Probably ever. And as soon as he was better he could actually help. He wouldn't just be sitting around doing nothing and being useless.

"I… I want to stay. If you'll let me." He can feel himself starting to cry again. Great. 

"Of course." Quirrel helps him walk back to his spot on the floor. "Do you want anything? Pillows? More blankets?"

Tiso nods. "Pillows would be nice."

Quirrel helps him sit down and goes to get more pillows. Lemm is still behind the counter, but that makes sense since it's his store. Quirrel gets back with the pillows and Tiso rearranges his area ti be more comfortable, putting pillows underneath him and wrapping himself with the blanket. 

It's nice. He's warm, and he finally feels safe. Really safe. Quirrel takes his shield and sets it nearby, close enough for Tiso to be able to grab it but not too close. 

Quirrel goes to talk to Lemm and Tiso curls up under the blanket. He closes his eyes, making himself more comfortable.

He could get used to this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't supposed to be sad I'm sorry

Tiso woke up to the smell of something cooking in the other room. He was still curled up on the floor, wrapped in the blanket and surrounded by soft pillows. There was someone behind him, laying near him but not very close, so he turned to see who it was. He was surprised to see the small bug from earlier, facing away from him. It seemed like they were asleep.

He got up, rubbing his eyes and stretching a bit, and then pulled the blanket over the small bug. They looked a lot different now, like a small child. Were they really exploring on their own? He wondered if they had ever been hurt, and if anyone had ever helped them when they needed it. Where were their parents? Dead? What about the rest of their family? It was likely that they were, but thinking about it made him feel sad. He wishes he could help them.

Quirrel walks in with two plates. "Good morning! How are you feeling?"

He thinks about it. He's in less pain than normal. His injuries still hurt, but not so badly that he feels sick or can't move very much. "Better."

"That's good." Quirrel hands him a plate. It has cooked meat and some type of plant on it. He eats the meat first. It's good and he feels a bit better after eating something. Quirrel tries to wake the small bug up but they're not really moving at all. 

Tiso eats too fast, but he was hungry and the food wasn't actually that bad. It seems to make Quirrel happy though so it's not a big deal. The small bug finally wakes up and Quirrel hands them the other plate. They stare at it and then look up at Quirrel, tilting their head like they're wondering what to do with it. 

"That's food? You eat it?" Tiso doesn't get how they're confused. But the small bug shakes their head and hands the plate to Tiso.

"Oh, uh… thanks?"

Tiso eats the food, talking while he's still chewing. "Do you not eat or something?" Quirrel slides back a bit when Tiso starts talking.

The small bug shakes their head. Oh. That's… probably bad? "You should maybe do that then." The bug shrugs and pulls out a map to do something with it. 

Tiso grabs the blanket and wraps himself in it. For some reason it makes him feel safer. It's easy to not think about the fact that he's probably a lot closer to death than he'd like to be, and that he's been here taking up space for too long, and that he's probably annoying everyone, and… it's not really working, is it? It isn't easy to stop thinking about, and he's not really happy, and he doesn't feel as safe as he probably should.

He wants to leave. He probably should leave. They wouldn't really care. Honestly, they'd probably be happy if he left.

All he needed was a place to go. And he has an idea.


End file.
